If you were at the fall sports assembly last week, then you might have seen me strip by myself in front of the entire school and dance with Silas Warner to “Livin’ on a Prayer,” something I would never have done before sophomore year even if I was paid to. I credit this mostly to my three weeks total that I have spent so far being a student leader at Outdoor School. Not because going to Camp Howard taught me any dance moves or how to have the perfect figure for an XC uniform, but because of the confidence I gained from being forced to step out of my comfort zone while leading 6th graders, and singing loudly in front of hundreds of people.

I, and anyone else I know who has gone to Outdoor School as a leader, would highly recommend volunteering at Outdoor School at least once. It’s completely free, you make about 20-30 new friends with sophomores, juniors, or seniors from other schools around Portland, the Outdoor School staff is amazing and hilarious, it looks great on college applications, you gain a ton of confidence, child-management, and leadership skills, and teachers are very understanding about make-up homework and classwork. As you can see there are a ton of reasons as to why Outdoor School should be a part of everyone’s high school experience.

Noah Landstrom, class of 2015, says his favorite part of his four separate weeks at Outdoor School was when he was “awarded honor guard during [his] second week because it really showed [him] that [his] leadership skills improved enough to be recognized by the staff, other volunteers, and the children of Outdoor School.” Noah also says that “after donating over 400 hours of my time with this program, it has become much more than just a place I used to volunteer at, rather it feels like a second home to me. It gave me a base foundation of leadership skills, improvement with social skills, and also some of my best friendships.” Noah speaks from personal experience when he says that “even just one week of volunteering [at Outdoor School] can honestly make the biggest impact on your life.” And I, and many others, fully agree.

Hannah Price, senior, says she became more confident and a better leader as a result of spending a week at Outdoor School. She loved the other student leaders and getting the opportunity to help a specific girl and be a role model for her and many others. Megan Canaday, senior, believes that the biggest thing she has gained from Outdoor School is leadership skills. She recalls being pretty shy and having a tough time speaking to groups of people, and now believes she has the “confidence to speak to large groups and effectively communicate what [she needs].” Megan says her favorite memory was having an unexpected bond with a 6th grader who his teacher said was “troublesome and difficult to teach,” which was not true at all for Megan when this 6th grader decided that Megan would be his new best friend. Like many who volunteer at Outdoor School, we all have stories to tell from our different experiences.

Being a student leader at Outdoor School means wearing many different hats: from an older brother/sister, a doctor, a friend, a lawyer, a teacher, to a singer/motivational speaker. During the six days you will live with a full group of new people, a community is created. You go from watching nervous 6th graders, who have never met each other, struggle to remember each other’s names, to watching a group of friends play and have fun like brothers and sisters.

I encourage signing up for Outdoor School, and if you are a freshman, you can sign up to do the weeklong 4th grade Oregon Trail overnights—it’s just as fun and has its own special perks. The unofficial deadline has passed, but you can still sign up online at https://ortrac.mesd.k12.or.us/ods-registration/ — or find me and I can tell you what to do.